J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Getting ready to pull trigger

Well, it looks like I'm finally getting ready to pull the trigger on buying a J/30. But I have a couple of questions for you guys.

I noticed on sailboatdata.com that the ballast to displacement ratio for the J/30 is 30%. That sounds low as most boats seem higher, say 38 or more. Do you find the boat to be a little tender? I will be sailing most of the time single and double handed, so not much weight on the rail. Maybe some distance races but not planning on any round the buoy racing.

Of course I will have a survey done, but is there anything special to know to look for? I'm especially concerned with wet coring and will be looking at that. I noticed some water stains at the chain plates.

On that note, can anyone recommend a surveyor in the San Francisco area?

I've looked at three boats now and all have rudders that seem slightly lose in their pintles and gudgeons. I assume this may be normal but, does that drive you crazy after awhile?

If I do buy this boat I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions for you all. I have been looking for a boat for awhile now and the J/30 has always been at the top of my list.

It's a late model boat on the west coast that looks in decent shape so far. The price is a little high though.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Here are some responses to your questions. Others can speak up too...
The boat can be trimmed and balanced. If you do not trim properly it is easy to get a lot of helm. There are many sail adjustments you can make on the J/30 to get the shape you want for the conditions. If it is breezy in your area (SF Bay it is!) you'll be using the #3 jib (110%) often. You should rig the reef line and practice using it for the big breeze. That said, if you do sail with full crew the weight on the rail helps.

The area around the chainplates should be checked to make sure the bulkhead isn't water saturated. It was on Rhapsody and I fixed it in this post. The area where the chainplates passes through the deck should be dug out and thoroughly cleaned, with new pliable caulk inserted. There is a good chance you have wet core in the deck by the chainplates. This should be dug out and epoxy isolated. It is a very common J/30 problem. If you find a J/30 that does not have wet core, you are extremely lucky. Most every boat I know of had some work done to fix and isolate wet core.

It has a stainless on stainless wear surface that bears some load, thus wears. I removed the gudgeon and pintles and took them to a machine shop. The holes were opened slightly, made true round and a marine bronze sleeve machined as an insert to take up the play. You could also use something like Delrin. This fixed the rudder play problem.

I totally agree with Bill. The J30 must be sailed flat to be fast. so solo, as soon as you drop the rail in the water you are going really slowly!
That said the J30 sails well solo, especially with the spinnaker up but you have to adjust the sails to keep her flat, as Bill mentioned.
She can be quite energetic! I sailed mine in the Hudson River, downtown New York, a few times, screaming past the J24's with training crews and 2 reefs was a blast...

With a crew, we have had our best races with large crew members and a flat boat!


My chainplates had leaks when I first bought her and were easily repaired - nothing like the work Bill undertook but the marks are still visible on the bulkhead. I worry more about the pressure we put on the shrouds and how the bulkhead holds up!

I have had areas on the deck become saturated. I had to clear out the wet balsa and I refilled with fiberglass and resin. I find I have had to rebed everything to reduce leaks from the bolts.

My boat was a sailing school boat in Jersey City, NJ for about 5 years during which very little maintenance was done, but it also meant she wasn't raced hard and tuned tight like demon.


My rudder doesn't move that badly that it would worry me. Once you are sailing and have pressure on it, there is no wobble!

All in all the J30 is a fun fast boat.

Hello there! My name's Alex, and I have hull #140 Ananda, sailing out of Pier 39 on San Francisco Bay. I hope you pull the trigger, it'd be awesome to have another J/30 around here!

Some answers to your specific questions:


Yes, the boat is quite tender, but as others have mentioned this is manageable by controlling sail area. Ananda flies a 95% blade jib and my main has two reef points - the second one does see a lot of use on windy days in the slot. This does tend to pull the CoE forward and induce some helm. I had a balanced rudder made which has really helped in that respect.

I sail her much as you expect to - double-handed or with small crew, not much weight on the rail, and purely for pleasure, no racing. I really find the boat to be a great design for San Francisco - fast enough to be fun and stable enough to handle the slot at its windiest.


My boat had a stress crack under the mast step, which I had fixed last year. Not sure if this is a common problem.

I've been pretty lucky with the balsa core - almost everywhere I've mounted or re-mounted hardware it's been dry. I did have some rotten core under the aft tracks, but so far it's been a localized problem.


I have noticed that but it hasn't bothered me much. Under way, the force on the rudder keeps the connection there pretty solid.


Jeff Keiser out of Sausalito did my survey a few years ago, and I haven't found much that he didn't in two years of restoration and use. I can forward you my survey if you'd like to see an example of his work.

Thanks for the replies! I've been reading on this site for awhile now and I do know you guys love your boats!

Alex, unfortunately the boat won't be staying in the Bay Area, but going to that windless coast down south. I've sailed plenty in the bay and it is a great place to be.

All that is left is to agree on price and get the seatrial and survey scheduled. I will keep you informed.

Cheers

Good luck with your negotiations and survey! I had the same questions and concerns when I was shopping. This will be third year with Blitz, hull # 357, and I have been very happy with the J/30 choice.

I agree with the previous comments on weather helm and tenderness. It is not all that hard to deal with, especially with a reef in the main.

Another item to watch for is core isolation around the exhaust port. I was lucky in that the PO had this addressed many years prior, but even if it is an issue now, it can be dealt with from the inside easily enough. There are bound to be some spots that read high on the moisture meter and hardware that is in need of epoxy isolation and rebedding. A good surveyor can put any of these items in perspective. In hindsight, after seeing how hard it is to remove wet, yet well bonded core that has not started to become delaminated as sounded with a small hammer, I would have put off some of the core replacement work that I did the first year and concentrated on watching things with the meter & hammer, as well as rebedding hardware and sailing the boat!

Good luck!

Oh, and on the issue of the noted play in the rudder, it would be prudent to determine if, and how much of this can be attributed to the tiller pivot bolt. This half inch hole can easily become 1", yielding a lot of play in conditions of low weather helm.

I pulled the rudder this fall and am in the process of having .010" over pins fabricated, but most of the play was from the tiller bolt hole, so I wouldn't be building new pins if it wasn't for the fact that the old ones had cracks in them.

Thanks Chris. I was more worried about the rudder play driving you crazy at anchor as well as light winds. We have some good metal people around here so I'm sure we could figure things out.

I have to agree with the comments above on sailing the boat flat

Here in Long Island Sound there are less windy days so I dont need to reduce sail as much as others. Not racing so crew is not an issue. The rudder has no issue under way . Ive been very very lucky to not have many of these wet core issues that caused others to become repair experts. for sureOne isolated are was addressed
no further issues....I just day sail it and never raced spinaker

great alround boat great j30 community here and around us

Barry Defender 252